Fascism is not just an ideology.
It is a pattern of control: the fusion of authoritarian power, myth, and violence into a system that thrives on crisis.
At its core, fascism is defined by:
- Hierarchy as natural — belief that some must rule while others must obey.
- Unity through exclusion — identity built by casting out an “other.”
- Myth over truth — stories and symbols override reality.
- Mass mobilization — people organized into spectacle, often against enemies.
- Authoritarian fusion — state, corporations, and culture woven together to enforce order.
Fascism is not confined to the 20th century. It mutates and re-emerges, adapting to new technologies and crises.
- Fear & resentment — fascism feeds on economic and cultural anxieties.
- Projection — blaming others for systemic failures (“enemies within” or “outsiders”).
- Authoritarian personality — attraction to strong leaders who promise order.
- Nostalgia politics — glorifying a mythic past that never truly existed.
Fascism operates through images and affects as much as through laws and violence.
It doesn’t only control people’s bodies — it shapes what feels beautiful, safe, or natural.
- Minimalist futurism — sterile design masking exclusionary politics.
- AI-generated art — sanitized propaganda that feels neutral but erases context.
- Ecofascist visions — nature and purity twisted into nationalist or colonial projects.
- Techno-utopian spectacles — megaprojects like Saudi Arabia’s The Line marketed as clean futures but built on displacement and control.
- Nostalgia loops — uniforms, symbols, and styles that mythologize “tradition.”
📺 Reference: Ben Hoerman’s film The New Aesthetics of Fascism explores how fascist aesthetics adapt to digital culture.
Fascism spreads not only through ideology but through tactics:
- Enclosure of commons — privatizing and enclosing public life.
- Disinformation & mythmaking — destabilizing truth to control perception.
- Scapegoating — blaming marginalized groups for systemic problems.
- Militarization — valorizing violence as purification.
- Crisis exploitation — using collapse (economic, ecological, cultural) as justification for authoritarianism.
Fascism rarely stands alone — it fuses with other forms of power:
-
Technofeudalism → fascism as cultural arm of enclosure. Platforms normalize hierarchy and control visibility.
→ See technofeudalism.md -
Dark Enlightenment → accelerationist thinkers provide philosophical cover for hierarchy, recasting fascism in libertarian or techno-utopian terms.
→ See dark_enlightenment.md -
Cloudalism & Platform Power → fascist content thrives in algorithmic systems that privilege engagement and outrage.
→ See cloudalism.md -
Collapse & Ecofascism → climate crisis weaponized to justify authoritarian “solutions” (strong borders, demographic control).
→ See collapse-memory
Fascism thrives on enclosure, purity, and control.
The Root Sequence proposes alternatives rooted in:
- Plurality — many kinds of lives, not one “ideal.”
- Decolonization — dismantling myths of purity and supremacy.
- Compost — seeing collapse and endings as renewal, not justification for control.
- Liberation — autonomy, empathy, repair, and play as antidotes to authoritarianism.
Fascism feeds on fear. Liberation composts fear into curiosity, care, and joy.